Written Answers

Tuesday 14 November 2000

Scottish Executive

Best Value

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why it intends to introduce a requirement on councils to redistribute 2% of their annual budget as a result of carrying out Best Value reviews.

Peter Peacock: In better aligning demand for and supply of services, the Scottish Executive expects Best Value to be a useful tool in establishing where funds are being applied to less than optimum effect, and could be better recycled within the authority.

  The consultation paper, Best Value in Local Government: Next Steps, suggests that in the absence of an incentive scheme which rewards councils for continuous improvement, the public purse might benefit from a requirement that they should redistribute at least 2% of their annual budgets this way every year.

  We are currently considering comments on this suggestion.

Dental Care

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what is being done to address the current waiting times for treatment at the Glasgow Dental Hospital of (i) 71 weeks for oral medicine, (ii) 69 weeks for anxiety/hypnosis, (iii) 11 months for prosthodontics, (iv) 34 weeks for oral surgery, (v) 30 weeks for conservation, (vi) 22 weeks for child’s dental health and (vii) 19 weeks for orthodontic treatment.

Susan Deacon: Reducing waiting is one of the Executive’s most important objectives for the health service in Scotland. Health boards and NHS Trusts are responsible for providing efficient and responsive health services, including services relating to dental health.

Dental Care

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the budget and, where applicable, the additional budget for Dundee Dental Hospital will be ring-fenced to ensure that the hospital can meet targets set in the Dental Action Plan and the Report of the Scottish Integrated Workforce Planning Group and to ensure that the hospital will not be subject to any cutbacks as a result of the Tayside University Hospitals NHS Trust’s £19 million financial deficit.

Susan Deacon: Dundee Dental Hospital and School has defined budgets for the educational component of its activity. Resources both from the Scottish Executive and the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council have increased in recent years over and above inflation. The Scottish Executive has no plans to reduce dental school allocations for education and will continue to allocate resources in line with present strategic plans.

Dental Care

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether all dental therapists, dental nurses and dental hygienists will be trained within the environment of a dental school.

Susan Deacon: Many educational organisations are involved in the education and training of the professions complementary to dentistry. Colleges of further education in Scotland make a considerable contribution to the education and training of dental nurses and dental technicians, and Edinburgh Dental Institute has a training course for dental hygienists. Therefore, whilst the Scottish Executive encourage all members of the dental team to be trained in the same environment where possible, education will continue to be undertaken in these centres of educational excellence, working in close liaison with the two dental schools.

Dental Care

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the 52.4% of new entrants to the Dentists’ Register who qualified overseas have undergone equally rigorous and extensive training as dental graduates in Scotland.

Susan Deacon: Entering the Dentists Register in the UK is not the same as working in the UK. Entry to the register does not guarantee entry to the UK or a work permit to work here. Home Office permission must still be granted and immigration criteria satisfied. Impending rule changes mean that registrations by overseas graduates were high last year and that the average figure of 9% is likely to drop in future.

  In Scotland, 98.6% of General Dental Practitioners (GDP) trained in the UK (91.3% in Scotland), 1% in the EC including Ireland and 0.4% trained overseas.

  The Scottish Executive Health Department is pursuing policies aimed at retaining Scottish graduates in Scotland.

Dental Care

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there will be an expansion of the consultant grades in dental specialities to ensure high quality training and to improve clinical practice.

Susan Deacon: The need for specialist dental services in Scotland is one issue within the remit of the Scottish Advisory Committee on Dental Workforce (SACDW). The number of dental specialists needed within hospital practice, community services and general dental services will continue to be monitored by SACDW.

Dental Care

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any additional funding will be allocated to General Dental Practitioners to assist with the increased costs associated with (a) the prevention of cross-infection and (b) the removal of clinical and specialist waste.

Susan Deacon: Proposals for payment in relation to the costs of prevention of cross-infection and the removal of clinical and specialist waste were included in the evidence submitted to the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration by the British Dental Association. The Executive will not anticipate the review body’s recommendations.

Dental Care

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will respond to the British Dental Association’s request for an increase in fees paid to dentists by the NHS of 8%.

Susan Deacon: The Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration is currently assessing the evidence provided by the UK Health Departments and by the British Dental Association and the General Dental Practitioners Association. The Executive will not anticipate the review body’s recommendations.

Dental Care

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether staff of General Dental Service Dentists can enter the NHS superannuation scheme in the same way as staff of General Medical Practitioners.

Susan Deacon: Not under current arrangements. This is one of the proposals which the British Dental Association has made to the review body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration.

Elderly People

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what proposals it has to produce, in conjunction with local authorities, advice on the best way to prepare an integrated strategy for an ageing population.

Malcolm Chisholm: This is one of the recommendations of the Better Government for Older People report referred to in the answer I gave to question S1W-10833. We will be responding to those recommendations in the New Year. However, work has already begun with the Joint Futures Group’s recommendation that a new national planning and financial framework be established, starting with the needs of older people.

Employment

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any jobs were lost and, if so, how many as a result of the transfer of Seacats operations from Stranraer to Troon; whether job losses are projected as a consequence of the further relocation from Troon to Belfast in 2001 and, if so, how many, and what steps are being taken to prevent the loss of any jobs to Northern Ireland.

Sarah Boyack: I understand that there were no overall job losses associated with the relocation of Seacat’s operating base from Stranraer to Troon in July this year. Similarly, none are planned as part of the relocation of the company’s operational base to Belfast. The relocation to Belfast is a commercial decision by Seacat.

Food Standards

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of retail butchers it expects to be fully licensed by the end of December 2000.

Susan Deacon: The Food Standards Agency has advised me that 84% of butchers who have applied for a licence have been approved. With 7% still undetermined, this figure is likely to be higher by the end of December 2000.

  It is for local authorities to determine individual licences, but the expectation is that more licences will be granted by the end of December.

Food Standards

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has estimated the cost of the collection of the licence fee payable by retail butchers.

Susan Deacon: The Food Standards Agency has advised me that the collection of the £100 fee itself would not incur any significant costs to local authorities. The fee is intended to cover the costs of processing each licence application.

Health

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-5715 by Susan Deacon on 26 April 2000, why it believes that the Government Procurement Agreement will not have any impact on health services.

Susan Deacon: As stated in my reply to question S1W-5715, contracts for the procurement of health services are excluded from the scope of the Government Procurement Agreement. There are currently no plans to include EC health services within the scope of the agreement.

Health

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-5715 by Susan Deacon on 26 April 2000, why it believes that the General Agreement on Trade in Services will not have any impact on health services.

Susan Deacon: As stated in my reply to question S1W-5715, services supplied in the exercise of government authority, including health services, are excluded from the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). The UK Government is clear that any liberalisation under GATS must bring benefits and will not allow the GATS negotiations to impact on the NHS in any way which is damaging to our interests.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish the report on "Scotland’s leading edge work on clinical outcomes and quality" as referred to in Investing In You .

Susan Deacon: The report will be published in early December.

Housing

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what the inclusive capital spend was on council housing by Glasgow District Council and Glasgow City Council, broken down to show (a) the borrowing consent, (b) the spend from capital receipts and (c) capital expenditure funded from revenue in each financial year from 1975-76 to 1999-2000.

Jackie Baillie: The following table provides a breakdown of Glasgow District/City Council’s capital expenditure on council housing in each financial year from 1979-80 to 1999-2000. Information prior to 1979-80 is not readily available.

  Glasgow District/City Council

  Capital Expenditure on Council Housing

  

 

£ million




Year


Borrowing Consent


Capital Receipts


Expenditure Funded 
from Revenue




1979-80


58.197


1.512


-




1980-81


60.220


5.432


-




1981-82


57.732


4.387


-




1982-83


39.331


17.654


-




1983-84


59.126


12.950


-




1984-85


43.022


7.824


-




1985-86


52.501


10.189


-




1986-87


60.148


11.612


-




1987-88


70.086


25.231


-




1988-89


57.463


31.089


-




1989-90


47.556


49.985


-




1990-91


54.026


51.753


-




1991-92


59.675


42.153


-




1992-93


54.665


38.925


-




1993-94


57.923


43.548


-




1994-95


64.162


34.710


-




1995-96


60.630


30.493


-




1996-97


59.749


17.462


-




1997-98


43.179


8.319


-




1998-99


44.795


6.886


-




1999-2000


24.350


7.572


19.856




  Source: 1979-80 to 1992-93 Glasgow’s HSG1A returns. 1993-94 to 1999-2000 Glasgow’s CCPR returns.

  Note: Borrowing consent reduced in 1999-2000 to reflect the transfer of HRA debt, associated with demolished stock, to the General Fund. This resulted in a £20 million saving in loan charge expenditure on the HRA, which was used to fund capital expenditure. The net result was, therefore, neutral in terms of overall resources available for expenditure on housing. Borrowing consent in 2001-02 is due to be reinstated to £43.75 million.

Justice

Irene McGugan (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the service out-turns were for each local authority for the years 1998-99 and 1999-2000 for (i) probation, (ii) community service, (iii) social enquiry reports, (iv) throughcare, (v) home circumstances reports and (vi) supervised attendance orders.

Mr Jim Wallace: Service outturns for each local authority for 1998-99 are shown in the table below. Outturn figures for 1999-2000 are presently being received from local authorities and will be made available shortly.

  Table 5: Service Outturns by Local Authority for 1998-99

  


Local
Authority


Probation*


Community
Service*


Social
Enquiry
Report


Throughcare


Home
Circumstances
Report


Supervised
Attendance
Orders




Aberdeen City


293


320


1,877


34


32


140




Aberdeenshire


155


96


826


19


9


75




Angus


117


140


843


24


26


127




Argyll & Bute


91


77


301


10


22


13




City of Edinburgh


523


605


2,066


131


44


135




Clackmannanshire


55


52


252


9


5


42




Dumfries & Galloway


165


219


733


24


28


122




Dundee City


264


440


1,952


21


18


236




East Ayrshire


141


174


610


7


21


189




East Dunbartonshire


64


75


313


5


27


6




East Lothian


48


104


321


13


9


31




East Renfrewshire


57


78


248


9


15


14




Falkirk


165


120


613


16


37


98




Fife


320


299


2,092


57


70


116




Glasgow City


1,078


1,129


7,578


237


340


107




Highland


142


272


955


28


36


88




Inverclyde


167


123


1,031


12


22


110




Midlothian


76


93


335


10


12


16




Moray


53


75


270


8


9


57




North Ayrshire


102


190


608


60


46


98




North Lanarkshire


358


228


2,133


48


78


140




Orkney


18


9


72


4


2


0




Perth & Kinross


162


118


474


26


13


121




Renfrewshire


202


285


1,155


41


46


55




Scottish Borders


73


106


408


3


4


47




Shetland


10


16


75


2


2


5




South Ayrshire


126


162


595


11


25


119




South Lanarkshire


335


373


1,703


38


38


101




Stirling


92


74


475


24


9


105




West Dunbartonshire


150


121


982


21


52


64




West Lothian


148


176


528


11


27


88




Western Isles


18


21


77


6


4


0




Totals


5,768


6,370


32,501


969


1,128


2,665




  * Denotes the number of individuals given orders rather than number of orders.

Justice

Irene McGugan (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what financial allocation was made to local authorities in total and to each individual local authority in the years 1998-99 and 1999-2000 for (i) probation, (ii) community service, (iii) social enquiry reports, (iv) throughcare, (v) home circumstances reports and (vi) supervised attendance orders.

Mr Jim Wallace: Tables showing the financial allocations to local authorities for 1998-99 and 1999-2000 for these services are available in SPICe (Bib. no. 9590).

Justice

Irene McGugan (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what financial allocation was made to local authorities in total and to each individual local authority for criminal justice social work in the years 1998-99, 1999-2000 and 2000-01.

Mr Jim Wallace: Financial allocations to local authorities for the 1998-99, 1999-2000 and 2000-01 financial years for criminal justice social work are detailed below.

  Allocations by Local Authority 1998-99, 1999-2000 and 2000-01

  


Local
Authority


Total
1998-99


Total
1999-2000


Total
2000-01







£


£


£




Aberdeen City


2,344,650


2,186,064


2,125,297




Aberdeenshire


701,792


729,695


914,185




Angus


749,043


770,115


776,641




Argyll & Bute


354,366


394,787


408,191




City of Edinburgh


3,430,537


3,583,846


3,693,483




Clackmannanshire


297,600


347,993


395,686




Dumfries & Galloway


1,046,698


1,114,517


1,100,855




Dundee City


1,737,279


1,970,592


2,089,458




East Ayrshire


784,660


835,461


888,902




East Dunbartonshire


348,250


358,979


342,736




East Lothian


429,964


426,515


459,921




East Renfrewshire


361,089


357,661


339,395




Falkirk


800,480


872,568


960,305




Fife


2,315,582


2,560,446


3,196,227




Glasgow City


6,620,202


7,528,326


8,581,145




Highland


1,412,500


1,486,407


1,522,563




Inverclyde


836,723


925,128


980,060




Midlothian


383,477


400,400


445,943




Moray


352,396


376,738


382,259




North Ayrshire


828,800


890,116


874,315




North Lanarkshire


1,803,563


1,897,919


2,052,972




Perth & Kinross


811,645


865,350


864,893




Renfrewshire


1,602,244


1,225,200


1,393,923




Scottish Borders


577,750


641,417


600,292




South Ayrshire


608,841


642,382


702,879




South Lanarkshire


2,109,844


2,227,341


2,396,297




Stirling


613,580


681,602


688,393




West Dunbartonshire


761,873


806,299


883,802




West Lothian


784,627


779,750


802,884




Orkney


324,455


289,900


297,147




Shetlands


203,877


196,040


200,944




Western Isles


108,043


123,924


128,048




Total


36,446,430


38,493,478


41,490,041

Justice

Irene McGugan (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what financial allocation was made to local authorities in total and to each local authority for court services and voluntary throughcare in the years 1998-99, 1999-2000 and 2000-01.

Mr Jim Wallace: Tables showing the financial allocations to local authorities for court services and voluntary throughcare for 1998-99, 1999-2000 and 2000-01 are available in SPICe (Bib. no. 9591).

Justice

Irene McGugan (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the reasons are for any wide differences across local authorities in financial allocations and unit costs with respect to criminal justice social work.

Mr Jim Wallace: Financial allocations to individual local authorities for core services in criminal justice social work are determined by a formula approach, agreed with CoSLA. It combines historical workload patterns and needs factors comprising unemployment rates, share of court business and population statistics, expressed as a percentage of the Scotland-wide figures.

Justice

Irene McGugan (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to local authorities which receive a comparatively low financial allocation, what assurances can be given that the capacity to manage the risk posed by dangerous offenders is as great as in a local authority with a higher financial allocation.

Mr Jim Wallace: Funding for criminal justice social work services has increased from £38,493,478 in 1999-2000 to £41,491,041 in 2000-01, an increase of 7.78%. This includes an additional sum of £300,000 specifically allocated for work with sex and other dangerous offenders. In addition, a joint Scottish Executive/CoSLA working group is currently reviewing the present formula arrangements which determine allocations to authorities. As part of this review, the Association of Directors of Social Work conducted a survey which identified resourcing of work with dangerous offenders as an area of concern. This is now being considered by the Executive.

Ministers

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Deputy Minister for Rural Development intends to use the title of Fisheries Minister.

Rhona Brankin: I will use this designation in appropriate circumstances.

Parliamentary Questions

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how it ensures that Ministers give full and detailed answers to all questions asked in parliamentary debates and whether, as part of its monitoring of questions, it monitors the number of questions asked further to questions asked in the course of debates.

Mr Tom McCabe: In accordance with the Scottish Ministerial Code, Ministers are expected to be as open as possible with the Parliament, and they aim to respond in debate to points raised, as time permits. The Executive does not monitor the number of questions asked further to questions asked in the course of debates.

Police

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action will be taken to ensure that any disciplinary or criminal investigations regarding the Chief Constable of Fife Constabulary are complete before he is permitted to take early retirement.

Mr Jim Wallace: This is a matter for Fife police authority.

Police

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what powers it has to suspend the Chief Constable of Fife Constabulary until all internal disciplinary and criminal investigations regarding him are complete.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Executive has no powers to suspend senior police officers including chief constables. It is for police authorities to decide whether suspension seems appropriate in particular cases and for Ministers to decide whether or not to approve a decision to suspend.

Public Appointments

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-10125 by Mr Jack McConnell on 20 October 2000, whether it will consider amending the standard application form for public appointments to explicitly request details of applicants’ membership of other organisations which represent particular interests.

Angus MacKay: We have no plans to amend the standard application form. The current form is considered adequate to establish a candidate’s suitability for appointment and to ensure that any potential conflicts of interest are identified.

Rail Network

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to conduct a capacity audit of the rail network.

Sarah Boyack: We have no plans at present to conduct a capacity audit of the rail network in Scotland.

Roads

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when the A77 Fenwick to Floak and Floak to Malletsheugh de-trunking Orders, announced in the public notices in The Herald on 27 October 2000, come into effect.

Sarah Boyack: The de-trunking Orders will come into effect on 1 April following the date on which the new motorway is open for through traffic on the lengths of road described in the Schedules to the Orders.

Roads

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when the M77 Special Road Extinguishment of Public Right of Way Orders, announced in the public notices in The Herald on 27 October 2000, will come into effect.

Sarah Boyack: The dates that the rights of way will be extinguished will be determined by the speed of construction of the new motorway. The dates will be published by notice or Order in due course.

Rural Affairs

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when the Minister for Rural Development next intends to meet Councillor Andrew Campbell, CoSLA’s Rural Affairs spokesman.

Ross Finnie: Councillor Campbell has written to me to request a meeting, and I am happy to agree to this. Our officials are arranging a mutually convenient date.

Social Inclusion

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what proposals it has to ensure the inclusion of ethnic minorities and disabled older people in the policy-making process.

Jackie Baillie: The Scottish Executive’s Equality Strategy, which was launched on 6 November, includes proposals for ensuring that all communities, including ethnic minorities, disabled people and older people, are included in the policy-making process. We will work with these communities to make our consultation and communication mechanisms more accessible.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Holyrood Project

Alasdair Morgan (Galloway and Upper Nithsdale) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer, further to the statement by the Convener of the Holyrood Progress Group that "in sourcing materials, preferences will always be given to those from sources that will reduce the need for transportation" ( The Herald , 26 September 2000), what specific criteria will be used to assess whether a bid should be given preference on this ground.

Sir David Steel: The Convener of the Holyrood Progress Group has informed me that the reference in The Herald newspaper of 26 September 2000 was to the tender documentation relating to the external cladding of the MSP building. That document states that, "preference will be given to materials from sources that will reduce the need for transportation and the associated environmental disadvantages". This is one of a number of criteria which must be considered carefully by the HPG in reaching decisions on these matters.

Scottish Parliament Publications

Mr Lloyd Quinan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer whether the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body has any plans to cease the duplication of internal parliamentary documents on paper, leaving only the documents published on the Intranet, and to use any money saved to invest in a superior search engine for the Parliament’s website.

Sir David Steel: I refer the member to my answers to questions S1W-10654 and S1W-10655. The SPCB is constantly looking for ways in which services can be provided in the most cost-effective manner. For reasons of accessibility to the public, most of the Parliament’s publications are currently made available both on the Internet through the Parliament’s website (not the Intranet) and in printed form. Should it become evident that the printed form is no longer required, the SPCB would publish in electronic format alone. The search engine for the Parliament’s website was upgraded at the start of the current parliamentary sitting period. Further search engine improvements for both the website and Intranet are dependent on the development of underlying databases as part of the corporate data strategy.